


Second Chance

by BelleRose



Category: Beauty and the Beast (1991), Beauty and the Beast (2017), Beauty and the Beast - All Media Types
Genre: Curse Breaking, Curses, Declarations Of Love, Developing Friendships, F/M, Falling In Love, Female Friendship, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Gen, Idiots in Love, Love, Love Confessions, Magic, Male Friendship, Male-Female Friendship, Multi, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Romantic Friendship, Tags May Change, True Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2020-12-28
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:21:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28360008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BelleRose/pseuds/BelleRose
Summary: Gaston is sure, he is going to die after the fall. Because his life is over, no matter what. But Agathe appears and curses him, granting him a second chance at the same time. He has one year to find true love and be loved by others. And Gaston has a lot to learn: about life, love, friends and himself.
Relationships: Adam & Gaston (Disney), Adam/Belle (Disney), Beast/Belle (Disney), Belle & LeFou (Disney), Gaston & LeFou (Disney), Gaston (Disney)/Original Character(s), Gaston (Disney)/Original Female Character(s), LeFou & Stanley (Disney: Beauty and the Beast), LeFou/Stanley (Disney: Beauty and the Beast)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 3





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Rating and tags going to change as the story continues.
> 
> I haven't written nearly three years and English isn't my first language, so please excuse mistakes. I'm slowly starting to get back into writing.

It was a strange feeling to fall, Gaston realized. He knew, he was screaming. The point was: He didn’t felt it. It was almost like a thing his body did without him. He was falling down something – his brain panicked – he screamed. It was easy as that. But he felt the cold air hitting him. He saw the beast and Belle and everything else getting smaller. It was a strange situation and it took him surprisingly long to fall down to the earth, where, without a question, his body would be crashed. His pretty face would be destroyed, nothing of his impressive body would be left intact.

Suddenly his back hit something hard. It wasn’t the ground, it was…a tree?

But before Gaston could understand, what was happening, his body hit more branches, leaves hitting his face and his whole body was in pain. More screaming and groaning. More things that hit him, hurting him, until he – finally – crashed to the ground. The fall wasn’t that hard, because it wasn’t that high from the last branch he had hit, but nevertheless it hurt like hell. And suddenly it was quiet and almost peaceful.

Gaston tried to breath, because somehow, he was still alive – for the moment. He would die very soon, he was sure of that. Breathing was difficult. He felt pain and it was almost like something heavy was at his chest. His whole body hurt. Several of his bones felt broken and his right shoulder felt dislocated. He felt himself bleeding. There was a big wound at his head. He could feel the blood dripping into his hair. He, who survived a war and many fights, who was envied by so many people because he was so strong and awesome and handsome would die like that. Life really wasn’t fair. He should die at home, old, but still incredible good-looking, surrounded by his ten kids and his beautiful wife after a fulfilled life.

But no. Seconds ago the bridge crumbled away and he fell and now he was laying in the dirt, hurt, after he lost against the beast, Belle rejected him and he was alone. This was, by far, the worst possible way he could die. How in the world was this possible? Where was LeFou? Why did Belle choose that horrible beast and not him? And why wasn’t he successful in killing that goddamn beast?!

He moved his eyes from the sky to the castle when he heard the noises. The castle was falling apart and it somehow became darker. He looked up to the room, where Belle had been, but he couldn’t see here.

He looked away, when he heard voices. Not the voices from the townspeople. A little boy was screaming for his mother. The screams were heart-breaking. The boy was terrified and in panic like his life depended on finding his mother. Gaston felt something, when the boy cried again, but he couldn’t name it. He felt many things at the moment and they all felt awful. For a brief second, he wondered, where the hell the boy came from. Did he live in the castle? Was he enchanted too?

Gaston dropped the thought immediately. In his mind, he cursed this whole magic and whatever was going on right now and whoever did this. In the end, that person destroyed his chance with Belle and her love for him. Because at some point she would have fallen in love with Gaston. He was sure of that. Everyone loved him. Every girl loved him and wanted him. Belle just needed a bit more time.

He realized, that it was quiet again. The screams where now far away and at some point, he no longer could here them. Gaston looked up to the castle again, watching some pieces falling down and decided to wait for his death. He would die, so he could prepare at least for it and greet the death with the last bit of dignity he had in this situation.

“You shouldn’t curse me.”

Gaston flinched at the sudden voice and groaned at the following pain. A figure appeared. The appearance was hidden by a cloak.

“Oh Gaston, I had so many high hopes for you. What a disappointment.”

“Who are you?”, Gaston asked with gritted teeth.

“I shouldn’t be surprised you don’t recognize me. You never paid much attention to me. I was always just the ugly, poor beggar-girl you made fun of.”

The woman put down her hood and Gaston looked into Agathes face.

“You?!”

“Yes, me.”

“What are you doing here?”

Agathe just looked at him and closed her eyes. She started to glow and her whole appearance changed to a beautiful woman. She opened her eyes again and looked at Gaston.

“You did this. This whole thing!”

“Yes, I cursed the prince to teach him a lesson.”

“You destroyed my happiness!”, Gaston screamed, not really paying attention to what the woman was saying and tried to get up to kill that witch.

But his body protested and he screamed in pain.

“I destroyed nothing. You and Belle.”, Agathe said calmly and laughed. “You both never had a chance, Gaston. But I’m sad you became a monster. You were a good guy once.”

“I still am. No one is a better person…”

“…like Gaston. Yes, I know. I heard your bragging about yourself enough times.”, she finished his sentence and looked up to the room. “I don’t have much time.”

“Why are you here anyway? You want to see me dying? Crying like a little girl? It’s not going to happen. And believe me: If I could, I would kill you right now!”

Agathe looked back at him and said nothing for a while. Her look felt strange and Gaston wished to escape. A little smile appeared on Agathes face.

“I don’t want to see you dying. If this would be my wish, I wouldn’t have saved you.”

“Saved me?”

“What?! You really think these trees are a coincidence? No. I let them grow to catch you.”

“Didn’t really worked.”

“You would be dead without me.”

“I’m dead anyway. I’m dying, just in case you haven’t noticed. My whole body is in pain. And I’m sure it was you, who made that goddamn bridge crumble!”

“You’re not dying. You are heavenly injured, but not dying. But yes, it was me. Kind of.”

She looked back up to the room, like she was waiting for something, and then back to Gaston.

“I’m here to save you.”

“Why should you, witch?”

Agathe laughed.

“Call me, whatever you want. I’ve heard worse. And you could say, it’s my nature to save bad people.”

“Thanks. But if you turn me into the beast, the only girl who could save me, is already taken by another beast. Thanks to you.”

She sighed and bended down to him.

“You know. One day, you are going to realize, that you never loved Belle. Not truly. Not with every inch of your heart. You loved here, because she wasn’t yours. Because she was a challenge. But you never saw her beauty.”

“My eyes were working perfectly well. Everyone knew, she was the most beautiful girl in town. That’s why I wanted to marry her.”

“I wasn’t talking about her looks. And that’s exactly what I mean.”

Suddenly she looked up at somewhere into the distance. Then she turned her head and looked at something Gaston couldn’t see. She looked up again at the castle and back to the previous point.

“I was serious, Gaston.”, she started and looked back at him. “And I’m going to curse you.”

“The hell you will be doing.”

“You can’t stop me.”

“Alright. Curse me. I can break any curse. And if I can break it with love, you can lift that curse tomorrow. Every girl in this world loves me. Everyone loves me. ”

“Oh, Gaston. Believe me. No one in the town loves you.”

“LeFou loves me. In more than one way.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that. And I have enough of you.”

She stretched out her arms and her hands started to sparkle.

“Gaston, I curse you! You turned into a monster with a heart cold as stone. You are incapable of loving someone truly and deeply and you can’t see the beauty of people. You are ignorant, narcissistic, cruel and you use people and hurt them.”

With horror Gaston saw the black clouds and the dark fog appearing out of nowhere. It was getting more and more and it started to cover everything. The world around him disappeared and it was so dark and cold. He could only see Agathe, who started to glow, her eyes closed. He wanted to protest, say something or move, run away, but it was like his body was glued to the ground and his voice was gone.

“I give you one year! One year, to find true love. To be truly loved and accepted by others. To be loved by a woman and to love her with your heart. A love, true and deeply. But if you don’t succeed and that year is over, you will turn into stone and the winds will destroy you and take you away. You will vanish from this earth and every sign of your existence will be extinguished. People will forget you and no one will remember you. And if you stay a bad person during that one year, you will feel pain.”

Like it was a keyword, the pain in Gaston’s body suddenly increased immensely and he screamed. He felt like, his body would get teared apart. He started to have problems with breathing and he gasped for air. One second he felt like, he would freeze to death, the next second like his body was boiling.

“But, I also have a gift for you. I grant you one wish. You can wish for everything, expect living in eternity and if it includes manipulating other people’s feelings or minds. Use it wisely. This wish and your last chance! Remember, one year, from now on, until midnight to this day.”

With these finale words, golden streaks emerged from Agathe’s hands and started to flow around Gaston’s body, before they covered him. It felt like, they burnt his flash and his head was almost exploding. His muscles started to clench. The world around him exploded into light, the pain increased again and Gaston screamed before the world turned black again and he fell unconscious.

* * *

He couldn’t recall, how he woke up. He didn’t really know, if he really was awaken. Gaston knew, he was in pain, less than before, but still in pain. His body was still hurt. It was cold, the ground was wet and he only saw a night sky. He had no idea, where he was or what day it was and how long he was laying there. He whimpered and tried to get up or move at least, but nothing worked. It was almost like, his body no longer did what he wanted. Every move and every breath was like hell. He hoped for death, that it would came soon and release him from this pain and hell he was currently living in.

Gaston started to wonder, if dying felt like this. He was multiple times closes to death, but always escaped. He was never faced with actually dying. Was it like that? That painful? And was his dream of a peaceful death just a fantasy that never came true in real life?

Another thought entered his brain. Agathe. The witch. The curse. Did she really cursed him? Gaston escaped a strangled laugh. The thought alone was crazy. But on the other hand, he had fought against a beast, had looked into a magic mirror and Agathe had did some really crazy things. Maybe, magic was real and he was really cursed.

Well, I didn’t matter. He was dying, so why should he care about that curse.

Suddenly he heard something. But his body and his mind where getting weaker by every second and it was hard to recognize it. It was a horse and something else. A carriage? He blinked, but his sight was getting blurry, the pain in his head increasing, breathing became harder. So, he was dying. Right now. On a cold, wet ground, pitied by some strangers probably. Or his mind was making these noises up.

He heard someone talking, but it was muffled. There was someone. What was that person saying? Was that person talking with him?

Gaston tried to say something, but his voice was gone, his chest protesting heavenly with pain. He felt himself losing consciousness again. He only saw something for a brief second. It was so fast, he wasn’t even sure, he really saw it or if it was just in his imagination. The last thing he saw, were two blue eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

It was a peaceful summer night. The horse was not in a hurry and trotted in a slow pace on the jolty way. It pulled a wagon with two women, a young one and an older one. The older woman was singing, not very beautiful, but the younger one didn’t mind. The songs were peaceful and sometimes joyful and the older voice filled the air. It had been a wonderful summer day. Blue sky and heat, but not unendurable. When the sun finally welcomed the moon, the woman had started their journey to the woods and had wandered through them, until now. Now, they were on their way back to their village.

The younger one urged the horse to go a bit faster. She was tired and started to freeze a bit, despite the warm blanket around her shoulders. But she needed some sleep. The night would be short enough and tomorrow would be exhausting again.

“And you really think, this makes an difference?”, she asked the older woman, who wore a cape.

“You ask me this question all the time.”, she answered with a smile and the younger one smiled too.

“Only, because I don’t think, it will make a difference and its worth this journey and everything.”

“It’s hardly a journey.”

“You know what I mean.”

“The stars are looking good tonight and you will see, it will help. The energy from the moon and the stars is real and important.”

The younger woman sighed.

“You do realize, that this is the reason, some people might call us witches?”

“I’ve been called worse.”, the older one answered with a shrug. “Witch is actually the nicest insult.”

“But I don’t want gossip.”

“Don’t worry. They will hardly talk outside of our small village about it. And nearly no one knows.”

The younger woman nodded.

“If you worry so much, why did you come with me?”, the older continued.

“Because your foot is still hurt.”

“I walked way longer before with a bad foot.”

“There is no need. We can also take the wagon.”

The older one laughed and started to sing again.

Suddenly the horse neighed and started to slow down.

“What’s that?”, the older one asked, looking into the distance, one hand at her hidden knife.

Something was next to the path. It was too dark to see it clearly, but whatever it was, it was big.

“An animal?”, she asked the younger one, who stopped the wagon and looked into the distance.

“I’m not sure…”

“Must be a big one.”

The younger one grabbed one of the lanterns and started to climb down the wagon.

“Wait!”, the older one hissed and grabbed the younger ones arm. “What if, this is an ambush?!”

The younger woman looked at the something.

“Just some steps.”

The older woman nodded, her hand still at her knife, ready to jump down the wagon and fight every attacker.

The young woman moved slowly to the something. She couldn’t say why, but she felt no fear. The situation was strange and something was in the air, but there was no fear. She hold the lantern in front of her to see something.

“So?”, the older woman shouted.

The younger one took some more steps and suddenly, she could see the something. She gasped and started to run.

“It’s a man! I need your help!”, she yelled and reached the man.

She put the lantern next to the man’s face and dropped to her knees. For a second she had the feeling, he was looking at her, when she looked at him, but after a blink, his eyes were closed and he laid there, without a movement.

“Monsieur? Can you hear me? Monsieur?!”, she yelled, tapping his cheeks to wake him up, but there was no reaction.

She put her fingers at the neck of this man and tried to feel a heartbeat. The man looked seriously injured.

“Is he dead?!”, her companion asked and dropped down at the other side.

“No. I can feel a heartbeat. Slowly, almost gone, but there is one.”

“Blimey…”, the older one said and looked at the man. “What the hell happened to this poor soul?!”

“I don’t know. Maybe an ambush?”

“Well, whoever it was, he made sure the guy got nearly killed.”

“We have to take him with us.”

“What?!”

“I have to help him! We have to help him!”

“And you can’t help him here?”

“No. We need to take him to Hugo. Now. Fast! Or he is going to die.”

The old woman hesitated and looked at the man.

“Well, don’t get me wrong, I think, he needs help, but…we don’t know anything about him.”

“You knew nothing about me.”, the young woman reminded her.

The older woman looked at her for a while and nodded.

“Alright. We take him to Hugo.”

The younger woman whistled and the horse started to walk towards them. The women grabbed the shoulders of the man, pulled him up and moved him to the wagon. He was heavy, the younger one noted, and seemed to be pretty strong. He looked like, he could defend himself. So why was he so injured?!

The older woman moved some baskets away and they put the man carefully at the back of the wagon. They climbed back on it and the younger one gave the horse the reins. It didn’t take them long to finally see the village in the distance. From time to time, the younger one looked worried back at the man, but he remained unconscious.

* * *

They entered the village and stopped in front of one of the first houses and the younger one jumped down, running inside the building. The older woman looked after her and back at the man. The young woman appeared again, followed by a man.

“I really can’t go.”, he explained to her, wiping his bloody fingers clean at his apron.

He looked at the old woman, nodded to her and then with a brief look to the back of the wagon with the man.

“Please. Just a look. He is seriously injured. I'm going to need your help.”, the young woman begged.

“I can see it. I can’t got.”, Hugo said and a scream from inside the house was audible. “She needs me here. But I’m sure you can handle this.”

“I never did this on my own. You were always there… .”

“I know, but you can do this. You are better than me anyway.”

Another scream from inside the house and Hugo looked worried to the door.

“I have to go back. She needs me. You can do this?”, Hugo looked back at the young one in front of him.

She bite her lip and looked at the unconscious man, back to Hugo and nodded.

“Yes, I can do this.”

“That’s my girl.”, he answered with a smile and squeezed her shoulder lightly. “You have everything you need?”

The girl nodded again and the door opened. A young man appeared, tears streaming down his face.

“You have to come back! Please! Something is not alright! Please! She is…”

“I know, I know!”, Hugo stopped him. “I’m coming.”, he turned around the young woman. “As soon as I have time, I’ll come to you. Alright?”

“Yes.”

He nodded and smiled at her, before he went in.

The young woman took a deep breath and looked at the older woman.

“Time to save a life.”, she simply said.

* * *

It took them a while to help the man. They had washed him – he had lost a lot of blood – and the young woman had checked his whole body. It felt strange to remove his clothes and she was thankful he wore some undergarments, but there was no other option.

As she thought, he was seriously injured. His right shoulder was dislocated and she needed some tries to put it back in place. Thankfully, he was unconscious. At least two rips felt broken or nearly broken. Indeed nearly broken were his arms and legs. He had several bad bruises on his arms, legs, hips, back and front body. There was also a big laceration at this head. His body also showed several cuts, especially the parts who weren’t covered by cloth.

She had covered the bloody wounds as good as possible and had treated the other wounds as much as she could. She wished, she could do more, but now she had to wait and see. His heartbeat was still alarmingly slow.

It dawned at the horizon and the older woman had gone to sleep. The young woman sat next to the unknown man and looked at him, changing one of the bandages, who was soaked with blood. She wondered, who this man was and what happened to him. Would he ever wake up?

She put his bandaged hand back next to him and brushed a strand of hair out of his face. He was clearly a man, who was a lot outside. His skin was tanned and weathered, but at the same time surprisingly soft. He was attractive, without a question, and looked very peaceful right now. For a brief second she wondered, what his eyes looked like and what his voice was like. Would she ever see his eyes? Or hear his voice?

His face showed, he was in pain and the woman felt pity for him.

“Whatever happened to you, I hope you recover.”, she whispered to the still unconscious man.

* * *

It took Gaston three days to wake up.

The first thing he recognized was…warmth. The sun was shining in his face. And something kept him warm. A blanket.

His brain tried to recognize more, but it was hard. He felt tired and awful. There was a soft underground. A bed? Why was he in a bed? And was he in his bed?

Slowly, the memories came back. Belle. The beast. The fight and the fall. Agathe. The Curse. The last thing he remembered was the night sky and the blue eyes. Or was this made up by his brain? He couldn’t tell.

The next thing, was something he heard. It was quietly, but nevertheless, Gaston could hear it. Someone was singing and humming. And it sounded nice. It got louder and he heard footsteps. Someone was coming into his direction.

And suddenly, he felt something else. Because out of the nowhere he felt the pain. He grunted and the singing stopped immediately. The pain was so bad, it made breathing hard.

“Here, drink this.”, a female voice said to him and he felt something at his lips.

Before he could react, a liquid was pouring down his throat. He tried to spit it out, who knew what he was drinking, but that hurt, so he swallowed whatever he was drinking. The taste was not bad, just a bit bitter and sour.

A bit late Gaston realized the woman hold his head up, because she was laying him back on the pillow.

“In a second it will be better.”

Gaston tried to open his eyes, but they were so heavy. With all the strength he had, he managed to open them a bit and he saw again the blue eyes. But then he felt tired, his eyes closed again and he fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

The next time Gaston woke up, the sun was no longer shining in his face. This time, it was easier for him to open his eyes and when he slowly opened them, he looked again in the blue eyes. He blinked to clear his vision and saw the face from a young woman, who looked at him with deep concern, but smiled, when he looked at her.

“You are awake!”

Gaston couldn’t say why, but she sounded happy about this. He tried to say something, but his throat was so dry he could only croak.

“Wait a second.”, the woman said and disappeared from his eye sight.

He briefly saw a wooden ceiling, before she returned and he felt a cup at his lips, filled with water. Completely ignoring his inner voice that warned him about the unknown situation, he drank hastily.

“Slowly!”, the woman warned him. “You can have as much as you want, but you have to drink it slowly.”

He emptied the whole cup and she took it away from his lips.

“More?”

He shook his head and she put the cup away. Gaston took another look at the room. He could see a door, windows and a house he didn’t know outside. Wasn’t he in the village? It was still day time, he noticed. The room was filled with a closet and a table with a lot of things on it and two chairs. On one of them was the young woman.

Gaston looked at her. He noticed the light brown hair which was tied together on her head and the big, blue eyes who looked curious at him. He wasn’t sure, he would recognize her in his daily life. She wasn’t a beauty, he thought. Her face looked nice, acceptable, in his opinion. She was no comparison to Belle. The woman in front of him looked…alright. So far he would go. The fact, that her hair was a mess and she had a bit dirt on her cheek and at her forehead didn’t helped her.

“Can you remember your name?”, she asked softly.

Well, she had a nice voice, Gaston realized. It was soft and pleasant. But the question itself, he remarked, was dumb.

“Of course, I have name. Everyone has a name.”, he snapped.

The woman raised her eyebrows a bit and looked at him.

“And what is your name?”, she asked and her voice had lost the friendly undertone.

“My name is Gaston. You probably heard about me.”

She raised one of her eyebrows higher.

“Should I?”

“Yes. You should. Everyone knows me.”, he answered a bit offended. “But I don’t know you.”

“I’m…”

“Don’t bother yourself.”, he stopped her. “I’m not going to remembered it.”

The woman said nothing and just looked at him for a while. It felt weird and made Gaston uncomfortable and he turned his gaze away, looking back to the window.

“Where am I?”

“You sure you want to know? Maybe you don’t remember it.”, the woman answered and her voice had a mocking undertone.

“You are not funny.”

“Good. That wasn’t my intention.”

Gaston looked at her grimly and to his surprise, she smiled a bit. She stood up and went back to the table. He now saw several bandages, plants, bowls and pots and other things, he couldn’t name at the moment.

“What did I drink?”

“Water.”

“Before that. When I was in pain.”

She took her time to roll up a bandage and Gaston got impatient.

“It was medicine.”, she finally answered, put the bandage away and turned back to Gaston.

“You made me sleep.”

“The medicine made you sleep.”

“Why?”

“It eases the pain and when we sleep our body can heal.”

Gaston looked back at the window.

“Where am I?”

“In my village.”

“And this is…?”, he asked and looked around the room.

“My house. You are in one of my rooms.”

Gaston nodded. He hoped for the village name, but it seemed, the girl wasn’t the smartest. Well, sooner or later he would find out the name.

“So, what happened?”

He looked back at the woman who had raised an eyebrow.

“You tell me. You are the one who was unconscious and injured in the dirt.”

“I don’t have to tell you anything.”, Gaston snapped and suddenly felt a pain in his chest.

He groaned and his hand reached for his chest, causing him more pain in his arm.

“Don’t move!”, the woman said quickly and was back at his side, pushing him back. “Lay down. Your body is still injured. And I don’t know, what happened. I found you in the dirt. You were heavenly injured and almost dead. So, I took you to my village and made sure, you get help.”

Gaston listened to her and laid back. He noticed her soft, warm hands on his chest, pushing him back into the pillows.

“Where are my clothes?!”

“I had to take them off for the examination.”

“Well, I hope you enjoyed my body.”, he said with a grin, but it vanished quickly because his chest hurt again.

“I’ve seen better.”, she answered drily and took her hands away.

Gaston ignored her answer.

“Well, if you are done with whatever you are doing right now, you could get yourself helpful and do something, you surely can do.”

“That would be?”

“Make me something to eat. I’m starving. And fetch me my doctor. I want to know, what my injuries are. Because I am in pain. And I want my medicine from him and not you. God knows, what you mix together. In the end, you poison me.”

“Anything else?”, she asked sarcastically.

“That’s it, for the moment.”

The woman stood up and went to the door. Before she walked out, she stopped and looked back at Gaston, on hand at her hip.

“You know, I should really tell you my name.”

“Why? There is no need for me to know it. And I don’t…”

“Remember it. Yeah, I know. I’m not deaf.”

“What a luck.”

“But…”, she continued unimpressed by Gaston’s remark “I have a feeling, you are going to remember it.”

“Really?”, Gaston asked amused and grinned.

“Yes.”, the woman answered. “My name is Josephine. And I am your doctor.”

And with a satisfied smile when Gaston’s grin froze in his face, she walked out of the room.


End file.
